Their circular activities this year alone has saved thousands of tonnes of goods reaching landfill, brought over a hundred million pounds into the Scottish economy, saved over a hundred thousand tonnes of Co2 emissions across every local authority area in Scotland – all whilst making an incredible social impact in their communities.

Read more at Circular Communities Scotland – The difference we make 2024 and beyond

Here Carron Tobin, SCOTO’s Exec Director shares some of her insights from the session and makes a wider plea to everyone to slow down and think about tourism from a community perspective.

‘Recalibrating tourism in Scotland to deliver for our community and their environment first – visitors second.’

When we talk about community led tourism and our vision for the future, we are talking about needing a radical shift in mindset and for visitors, business, public agencies and government as well as communities themselves to all change their mindsets.  Our national tourism strategy seeks responsible tourism for a sustainable future.  This means putting our people, places and planet to the fore.

We are conscious for some this may feel like it flies in the face of the basic principles of tourism and hospitality… Tourism is all about visitors isn’t it?  Which ties in with the classic hospitality mantra ‘the customer is always right’.

However we believe these days are gone.  In an era where we need to focus on responsible tourism, we believe tourism has to be about added value for the host destination – its people and its places. It has to be worth their while welcoming visitors and tourism should help make them a better place to live, work and visit.  It has to benefit their environment, not erode it.  If it isn’t giving something of value back … we are talking about extraction.  Is that in line with  the UN Sustainable Development Goals?

One of our starting points is to ask visitors to adopt the mindset of being a temporary local.  For visitors to slow down and take time to consider what has made that community what it is today and understand what is important to them and how their visit can help that community.  By taking time to do this the visitor will have a much deeper appreciation of what makes locals tick and also be in a position to do something that will make a difference, which leaves everyone feeling good about life. We have had great fun building our www.belocal.scot website aimed at ethical travellers.

If we then turn to the community.  Visitor experiences happen in a place – and that place is more often than not home to a group of local people, a community… unless of course it’s a wilderness experience!  The visitor destination is a geographic community whether a city or town, a village, an island or a glen.  The destination may be geared up and ready for visitors with parking, toilets, cafes and places to stay – or it may not. And this could be an opportunity for a community to provide these services, and in so doing be able to manage how tourism plays out locally and start to use revenue earned to tackle other issues they face.

Fundamentally tourism is an important means to an end and a mechanism for tackling known issues and opportunities identified through place planning and community action planning. It brings revenue into a community that can then be recycled.  It often isn’t seen in this light – yet – but there are numerous examples to demonstrate what this change in mindset can bring.

My go to example is Callander where I stay and where I am a trustee of the Callander Youth Project.  We own what was the Bridgend Hotel which we converted into a hostel several years ago, have a function suite and also built 3 pods plus an all abilities pod during Covid.  We did this so we could offer training for young people to equip them to work in local tourism and hospitality businesses with modern apprenticeship training.  We offer them the real living wage and use the premises for all our youth work.  This is just a glimpse of what we do but for us tourism is a means to an end – retaining young people in our town and giving them life and professional skills to work in tourism and hospitality locally.

At a community level, our latest activity has been rolling out our Press Programme, originally piloted with the North Highland Initiative and now delivered in more than 40 communities across Scotland.  This workshop based programme brings community and business interests together in the same room to explore what is and isn’t working and what could be done better or differently.  This is helping communities that feel overwhelmed, those that feel by-passed visitors are there but not stopping, and those that are economically fragile and don’t yet feel that they are even on the visitor radar.  Read more at Press Pause .

Then we turn to the industry. Recent research has shown that the Scottish Economy doesn’t measure the impact  of the third sector. Yet in tourism most of our  heritage centres and  highland gatherings are provided by local charities and it is communities and local volunteers who are now providing toilets and visitor information. In this scenario, more and more communities are stepping in when the public sector steps back due to budgetary constraints.  Our community empowerment legislation and support in Scotland is enabling that to happen but the tourism industry  hasn’t yet started to measure it – and nurture it.

Which brings me to the elephant in the room.  Community run does not mean amateur, unreliable and mediocre.

Take note – last week at the national VisitScotland Thistle Awards 2024, five awards went to community run tourism enterprises.  Five out of 18 national award categories went to community led tourism enterprises and individuals.  Only one of these categories was dedicated to Thriving Communities and a community initiative rightfully won.  The other awards were for innovation (Loch ness Hub), inclusion (Trimontium Museum) and outstanding cultural experience  (Wigton Book Festival).  These  winners were up against mainstream tourism businesses from across the Scottish tourism industry and came out on top. Their endeavours are top of their class.

And to top all this off, this year the award for Scottish Tourism Individual of the Year went to Russell Fraser, SCOTO’s founder and chair.  This was in recognition of all that he does at Loch Ness Hub and much further afield through our SCOTO network – what he does, and how he does it. I smiled at the weekend as Russell himself posted on LinkedIn with a great post about ‘Russell – own it’, very aware that many will be asking ‘who, why, what for?’  And someone prominent in tourism circles who hasn’t yet met Russell adds a comment saying she was asking exactly these questions – but she now wants a conversation because he’s clearly worth chatting to!

So, has this changed your own mindset even just a little? Can you see why tourism needs a change in mindset – and communities need to come to the fore, not visitors.

This Strategy sets out a clear ambition: for Scotland to be Nature Positive by 2030, and to have restored and regenerated biodiversity across the country by 2045. The vision is:

“By 2045, Scotland will have restored and regenerated biodiversity across our land, freshwater and seas.

Our natural environment, our habitats, ecosystems and species, will be diverse, thriving, resilient and adapting to climate change.

Regenerated biodiversity will drive a sustainable economy and support thriving communities, and people will play their part in the stewardship of nature for future generations.”

Read or download the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045

First Minister John Swinney outlined his vision for Scotland’s wellbeing economy in a speech and Q&A session at the Social Enterprise Summit Scotland 2024, held at the Surgeon’s Quarter, Quincentenary Conference Centre in Edinburgh. This year’s summit, themed “Catalyst for Change: Social Enterprise Driving a Wellbeing Economy,” gathered over 200 social entrepreneurs, policymakers, and advocates dedicated to building a fairer, more sustainable future.

The Summit also featured Tom Arthur, Minister for Employment and Investment, who delivered a keynote address on the role of social enterprises contribution towards Community Wealth Building.

Read more here First Minister applauds social enterprise sector – Social Enterprise Scotland

The Disclosure Act will improve the disclosure system in Scotland by removing unnecessary barriers for people with convictions as they seek employment or other opportunities and enhance the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme.

1 April 2025 is a major milestone for implementation of the Disclosure Act. On this date:

• there will be a reduction in the number of disclosure products
• applicants will have more control over their information. The disclosure process will include a requirement for applicants to share a copy of their disclosure with the accredited body that countersigned the application, or to notify Disclosure Scotland that they will seek a review. Disclosure Scotland’s Digital Team are currently developing this, ending the current process of applicant and countersignatory results being produced simultaneously
• an individualised approach to the disclosure of childhood offending and rights of review for convictions disclosed, to enhance fairness and proportionality. Applicants will be able to indicate their intent to review a Level 2 disclosure digitally
• the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme will become mandatory for those carrying out regulated roles with children and protected adults

Read more on what you need to know Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 – what do you need to know and do now? – Disclosure Scotland

Over 130 social and environmental justice NGOs, grassroots community groups, faith groups, service providers, funders, economists, academics, think tanks and business leaders have again joined forces in an open letter to the First Minister, led by WEAll Scotland.

The broad group is united in their support of the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill proposed by Sarah Boyack MSP.

Read more here on the calll to Scottish Government to back world leading legislation led by WEAll Scotland.

The event offered a friendly platform for sharing knowledge, experiences, strategies and reaffirmed the power of communities to lead the energy transition.

Workshops covered key topics vital to the sector. Workshops on Active Travel, Energy Efficiency, Community Benefits from Commercial Wind Farms, and How to Communicate and Evaluate Impact shared case studies, practical advice and invited discussion between organisations.

Read the report here.

The Programme for Government is published every year at the beginning of September and sets out the actions Scottish Government will take in the coming year and beyond.

It includes the legislative programme for the next parliamentary year.

The Programme for Government  (PfG) was announced on 4th September and will deliver on four main priorities:

• eradicating child poverty
• growing our economy
• tackling the climate emergency
• improving public services

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Read further views on the PfG from our members Social Enterprise Scotland and TSI Network Scotland.

Support will be offered to explore local, citizen driven sources of income such as community shares, community bonds, one off community lotteries and local legacy giving etc, to encourage a move away from grant dependency.

What do they mean by democratic finance?

Democratic

• Money is raised collectively from within a community
• Money is invested into democratically controlled organisations
• Investment and membership opportunities are open to all
• Communities acting independently on their own behalf
• Community assets and services are mutually owned and run

Finance

• Organisations have a greater blend of income and are less grant dependent
• Communities have networks of ‘Citizen Investors’
• Money is repayable to local people and local organisations
• Money is retained and circulated locally, boosting long term community wealth
• Investment opportunities are affordable and fair, and best suited to community and social enterprises

What support is available?

The team at Democratic Finance Scotland will provide practical, hands-on support to democratic, community led organisations to build their financial resilience and control.  Support will be offered to explore local, citizen driven sources of income such as community shares, community bonds, one off community lotteries and local legacy giving etc, to encourage a move away from grant dependency. There will also be a focus on funding and investment opportunities from the renewables transition with a focus on ensuring a JUST transition benefiting communities across all Scotland.

Democratic Finance Scotland is open to community and social enterprises either with, or with a desire to adopt:

• A democratic, fair and open governance structure
• An enterprising, empowering and sustainable approach
• A grassroots focus on securing, boosting and retaining local wealth.

Find out more at www.democraticfinance.scot

Through taster sessions, maintenance classes, group rides and a bike lending library, their staff and volunteers are challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers to give everyone access to the joy of everyday cycling – regardless of ethnicity, gender or income. “It’s helped to make Govanhill a nicer, healthier place to spend time,” she says.

Meanwhile, in the Kinross-shire village of Glenfarg, Drew and his neighbours responded to the loss of their skeleton bus service by launching their very own community-owned, non-profit bus link to Kinross and Perth. Two years on, passenger numbers have soared from 120 to well over 1,000 every single week, including free bus travel for over 60s, under 22s and disabled people. “The service has really transformed the village, because we now have a connection with the rest of the world,” he says.

All over Scotland, in our biggest cities and smallest villages, from coastal towns to remote islands, the Community Transport movement is thriving. Women on Wheels and Glenfarg Community Transport Group are just two new examples of an essential sector that’s growing, and of resilient communities that are stepping up, to plug gaps in our transport system.

We celebrated all of their achievements, and the amazing people behind them like Shgufta and Drew, during Community Transport Week 2024 between 14 and 18 October. In just its second year, but fast becoming an exciting fixture in the calendar, it is our movement’s annual UK-wide platform to spread the word about community solutions to local transport needs led by us at the Community Transport Association (CTA).

We saw local charities, community groups and social enterprises in every corner of the country seize the opportunity to hold community celebrations, launch volunteer recruitment drives, announce new services, offer fare discounts, share passenger testimonials and, of course, post aplenty on social media.

With my colleagues Nicola and Lara, together making up CTA’s Team Scotland, we travelled across 8 local authority areas to visit 12 Community Transport operators and meet with 4 MSPs from 3 different political parties.

We went for a bike ride with Patrick Harvie MSP and Women on Wheels. We jumped on board Glenfarg’s 55 bus to chat with drivers and passengers. We visited car clubs, accessible minibuses and volunteer car schemes. We saw the incredible diversity and impact of our sector up close and personal.

On our CT Week journey from Aberdeenshire to South Ayrshire, we spoke with so many people, especially those who can’t afford a car or can’t access public transport, who rely on Community Transport to access amenities, education, employment, family and friends, health and social care and public services.

Local transport which is accessible, affordable and attractive is therefore critical to so many urgent policy priorities, like boosting the economy, tackling poverty, cutting NHS waiting lists and ending climate change. There are over 14.5 million Community Transport journeys every year in the UK, adding up to a lot of social, economic and environmental value.

But there’s still more to do. There are too many communities with unmet transport needs who want to take back control of local transport. And these needs are only likely to grow with our population ageing, climate change intensifying and for-profit operators and cash-strapped councils cutting back bus services. Since 2019, Scotland has lost 32 million miles of bus services or 16% of the national network.

That’s why we’re working with lots of local groups looking to set up their own Community Transport services, large or small, and join our more than 1,300 members. Thanks to Transport Scotland funding and member subscriptions, we deliver training, offer resources and provide advice and ongoing support to help them get off the ground and deliver safe, legal and smooth journeys.

It can be extremely challenging in a competitive, complex and constrained funding environment. But, for people like Shgufta and Drew, for communities like Govanhill and Glenfarg, and for Scotland’s Community Transport movement, that won’t stop us.

David Kelly, Director for Scotland, Community Transport Association